Women’s Tennis

After advancing to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championships, freshman Clarissa Hand fell to San Diego’s Solymar Colling 3-6, 1-6.

The Orlando-based tournament, played at the USTA National Campus, was the freshman’s championship debut after missing the Big Ten Tournament due to illness. Hand is the first Northwestern rookie to play in the singles championships since 2007 and received an at-large berth. She was one of 10 freshmen selected to play, and one of six Big Ten players represented at the tournament.

In the first round Monday, Hand won in three sets over Wake Forest’s Emma Davis, beating her opponent 7-6 in the first set and 6-4 in the third. It was Davis’ second appearance at a NCAA Championship event.

Hand earned Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year honors this month and was ranked as No. 39 best individual by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. During the regular season, the New Jersey native was the only freshman to be awarded multiple Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors and was named to the All-Big Ten Team. During the regular season, she played all but one of her dual matches at No. 1 singles, and collected the most wins of any Big Ten rookie.

Five Wildcats have earned a spot in the last seven years — last year, Erin Larner also advanced to the second round of the tournament.

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